Multi purpose automotive airfoil

ABSTRACT

A hollow airfoil for the front end of a blunt-nosed van is provided with a rounded front, a sloping top, and a contoured bumper and mounting assembly secured to the base of the airfoil and to the frame of the van. The sloping top of the airfoil is provided with a door so that the interior of the airfoil may also be used for storage and ballast.

United States Patent [191' v i Wilkerson 1 Oct. 2, 1973 1 MULTl-PURPOSEAUTOMOTIVE AIRFOIL 3,415,566 12/1968 Kcrrigan 296/91 x 4 740 1969 D V hl 296 l [761 Gary 8486 kii ovo 13/1969 224 430:

Dr., Paradise, Calif. 95969 I Filedl 1972 Primary Examiner-Leo Friaglia[2 I APPL NO: 224,871 Assistant ExaminerJ0lm A. Pekar Attorney-Roland l.Griffin [52] US. Cl. 296/1 S, 224/4203 A, 224/4242 511 Int. Cl 862d35/00 ABSTRACT Fleld of Search S, K, A hollow airfoil for the front endof a blunt nosed van 224/4242 4203 4203 4207 is provided with a roundedfront, a sloping top, and a contoured bumper and mounting assemblysecured to [56] References cued the base of the airfoil and to the frameof the van. The UNITED STATES PATENTS sloping top of the airfoil isprovided with a door so that 3,561,813 2/1971 Barenyi et a1 296/28 K theinterior of the airfoil may also be used for storage 1,575,074 3/1926Nordgren 224/4207 and ballast.

2,701,728 2/1955 Miller 1 224/4204 3,228,576 1/1966 Gaukel 224/4203 A 2Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FIG 2 FIG . vl MULTI-PURPOSEAUTOMOTIVE AIRFOILBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to airfoilsfor blunt nosed vans and, more particularly, to an airfoil that may besecured to the front end of such a van to improve its stability,handling, and safety while at the same time providing additional storagespace and a stronger, safer bumper.

Blunt-nosed vans, such as the Volkswagen Transporter, typically have ahigh forward wind resistance. Moreover, they also typically have a veryuneven weight distribution since their engines and storage areas aregenerally located at or towards the back end thereof. These factorsdegrade the stability andv handling and, consequently, the safety ofsuch vans, especially at higher driving speeds.

The bumpers employed in blunt-nosed vans are typically frail and aresecured to the front end thereof in very close proximity to the steeringmechanism and, the driver. This provides very limited protection. in theevent of any type of front end collision and therefore further degradesthe safety of such vans.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principal object of this invention is toprovide an airfoil for decreasing the forward wind resistance andimproving the weight distribution of blunt-nosed vans, such as theVolkswagen Transporter, and thereby improving their stability, handling,and safety while at the same time providing them with additional storagespace.

Another object of this invention is to provide an, airfoil for furtherimproving the safety of blunt-nosed vans, such as the VolkswagenTransporter, by providing them with a stronger and safer bumper.

These objects are accomplished according to the illustrated preferredembodiment of this invention by providing a hollow airfoil with a pairof parallel sides, a rounded front, a contoured back, a flat bottom, aflat top. sloping downwardly from the back to the front of the airfoil,a pair of mounting bars secured to the sides of the airfoil at the basethereof, and a contoured bu m.- per secured to the mounting bars and tothe front of the airfoil at the base thereof. The airfoil is mounted onthe front of a blunt-nosed van, such as the Volkswagen Transporter,between the headlights and between the windshield and bottom of the vanby securing the mounting bars to the frame of the van. Av hinged door isprovided in the top of the airfoil so that the interior of the airfoilmay also be used for storage and ballast.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of ablunt-nosed van. with an airfoil according to the preferred embodimentof this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of an airfoil and front end of the vanof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the airfoil and front end ofthe van ofFIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the airfoil and front end ofthe van of FIGS. 1 3 taken along the line 4 4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the airfoil and frontend of the van of FIGS. 1 3. FIGS.

4 and 5 show how the airfoil is mounted on the van.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIGS. 1' 4,there is shown a hollow airfoil 1,0 constructed according to thepreferred embodiment of this invention and mounted on the front end of ablunt-nosed van 12, such as the Volkswagen Transporter. Airfoil 10 has apair of parallel vertical sides 14 and l6, a rounded vertical front 18,a contoured vertical back 20 generally conforming to the contoured frontend of van 12, a flat horizontal bottom 22, and a flat top 24 slopingdownwardly from the con-' toured back 20 to the rounded front 18 at anangle of about 15. The top 24 of airfoil 10 is provided with a door 26attached to the airfoil by a pair of hinges 28 so that the door may beraised and leaned against the front end of van 12 to permit ready accessto the interior of the airfoil. Tools, other items, and/or ballast maythereupon be stored within the airfoil to improve the weightdistribution of van l2 and thereby improve its stability, handling, andsafety. Door 26 may then be closed and secured in place by a latch 30 ofthe type that may also be locked. Airfoil 10 may be constructed offiberglass, sheet metal, or other suchmaterials. For a van, such as theVolkswagen Transporter, airfoil 10 should be about 36 inches in heightat the back 20, 29 inches in width between the sides 14 and 16, and 22inches in depth from the front 18 to the back 20. v

Airfoil II) is mounted on the front end of van 12 between the headlightsand between the windshield and the bottom, of the van. This isaccomplished by removing the standard bumper of the van, by bolting apair of frame extending mounting bars 32 to the frame 33 of the van. asindicated at 34 in FIGS. 4-and 5, by bolting a contoured bumper 36generally conforming to the rounded front 18 of airfoil 10 to mountingbars 32 as indicated at 38 in FIGS. 4 and 5, by bolting the sides ofairfoil 10 at the base thereof and a pair of angle irons 40.10 mountingbars 32 as indicated at 42 in FIGS. 3 5, and by additionally bolting thefront of airfoil 10 at the base thereof to. contoured bumper 36 asindicated at 44 in FIGS. 4 and 5. Two additional contoured bumpers 46are mounted on the front end of van 12 on opposite sides of airfoil 10by bolting them to angle irons 40 as indicated at 48 in FIGS. 3 5 and byadditionally bolting them to the body of the van as indicated at 50 inFIGS. 4 and 5. Mounting bars 32 and contoured bumpers 36 and 46 are allconstructed of steel or some other such strong material. For a van, suchas the Volkswagen Transporter, mounting bars 32 should be about '20inches in length, 2 inches in width, and one-quarter of an inch inthickness. Contoured bumper 36 should be about 8 inches in height, andcontoured bumpers 46 should: each be about 6 inches in height.

Airfoil 10 substantially reduces the forward wind resistance of van l2and thereby further improves its stability, handling, and safety.Moreover, contoured bumper 36 is stronger and spaced further from thebody of van 12 than the standard bumper it replaces. This still furtherimproves the safety of van 12.

I claim:

1. An automotive airfoil for use on the front end of a blunt-nosed van,said airfoil comprising:

a housing with a front portion decreasing in width toward the front endof the housing, with a top portion sloping downwardly and decreasing inheight toward the front end of the housing, and with a door permittingaccess to the interior of the houss;

said housing being proportioned to be mounted adjacent to the front endof the blunt-nosed van below the front windshield and between theheadlights of 5 blunt-nosed van below the front windshield and betweenthe headlights of the blunt-nosed van and to mount the bumper adjacentto the front end of the housing along a lower portion thereof.

2. An automotive airfoil as in claim 1 wherein:

said front portion of the housing is rounded; and said mounting meanscomprises a pair of mounting bars for being secured to the bumper, thehousing,

and the frame of the blunt-nosed van.

1. An automotive airfoil for use on the front end of a bluntnosed van,said airfoil comprising: a housing with a front portion decreasing inwidth toward the front end of the housing, with a top portion slopingdownwardly and decreasing in height toward the front end of the housing,and with a door permitting access to the interior of the housing; saidhousing being proportioned to be mounted adjacent to the front end ofthe blunt-nosed van below the front windshield and between theheadlights of the blunt-nosed van; a bumper for the housing; andmounting means for securing the housing and the bumper to the frame ofthe blunt-nosed van to mount the housing adjacent To the front end ofthe blunt-nosed van below the front windshield and between theheadlights of the blunt-nosed van and to mount the bumper adjacent tothe front end of the housing along a lower portion thereof.
 2. Anautomotive airfoil as in claim 1 wherein: said front portion of thehousing is rounded; and said mounting means comprises a pair of mountingbars for being secured to the bumper, the housing, and the frame of theblunt-nosed van.